10th Annual Tax Thread - 2012

[JasonK]

Are you saying you want to adjust your W2 if they reject your appeal?

Yea is it possible to do that? or that will most likely move me into audit as a result?

They are hinting to me they cannot make any adjustments now that the calendar year has passed, and cannot accept my appeal.

Sorry if I am confusing the issue

 

[EagleKeeper]

Yea is it possible to do that? or that will most likely move me into audit as a result?

They are hinting to me they cannot make any adjustments now that the calendar year has passed, and cannot accept my appeal.

Sorry if I am confusing the issue

W2 is under control of the company.

You can file a 1040X with adjustments to claim the tuition issues/credits fo the past 3 years
It will be less than what you have spent, but it will get something back.

However, you should really press your employer to make things right.
Whoever was responsible for processing the tuition paperwork refunds is just trying to avoid work on their part.
There is no reason that a W2 can not be modified and an adjusted W2 sent to you for a previous year.

 

[JasonK]

W2 is under control of the company.

You can file a 1040X with adjustments to claim the tuition issues/credits fo the past 3 years
It will be less than what you have spent, but it will get something back.

However, you should really press your employer to make things right.
Whoever was responsible for processing the tuition paperwork refunds is just trying to avoid work on their part.
There is no reason that a W2 can not be modified and an adjusted W2 sent to you for a previous year.

Thanks,

I will do what I can to push them to correct. My company having a 3rd party manage tuition reimbursement program dosent help. So if the 3rd party company denies, I will go to HR to push

 

[CPA]

Thanks,

I will do what I can to push them to correct. My company having a 3rd party manage tuition reimbursement program dosent help. So if the 3rd party company denies, I will go to HR to push

Yeah, your company and the third party is playing on your naivete. They can easily make adjustments because they haven't issued any W2's yet. Even if they did, they could issue a W2c. Don't let them get away with this nonsense.

 

[Rudy311poo]

question - my Wife and i have had temporary guardianship of our nephew since the end of August. From that point he has lived with us and we are supporting him 100% (no money from either parent). Since we did not have him more than 1/2 the year are we SOL as far as claiming him or getting any kind of credit/deductions?

 

[sjwaste]

For the SSD tax (4.2%, back to 6.2%) this year, is it capped at 110k of earnings for the whole tax return (for example, MFJ) or per employee (both spouses)? Let's use round numbers for an example - if my wife and I both had W2 earnings of 100k, do we each pay $4200 for a total of $8400, or are we capped at 110k of our joint 200k earnings for a credit/refund of 8400 - 4620 = 3780?

EDIT: PS. Thanks in advance.

 

[EagleKeeper]

For the SSD tax (4.2%, back to 6.2%) this year, is it capped at 110k of earnings for the whole tax return (for example, MFJ) or per employee (both spouses)? Let's use round numbers for an example - if my wife and I both had W2 earnings of 100k, do we each pay $4200 for a total of $8400, or are we capped at 110k of our joint 200k earnings for a credit/refund of 8400 - 4620 = 3780?

EDIT: PS. Thanks in advance.

Per person

 

[EagleKeeper]

question - my Wife and i have had temporary guardianship of our nephew since the end of August. From that point he has lived with us and we are supporting him 100% (no money from either parent). Since we did not have him more than 1/2 the year are we SOL as far as claiming him or getting any kind of credit/deductions?

If you can get a written waiver (Form 8332) from the previous custodial parent(s); then you can claim him as a dependent.

NO waiver, no dependent exemptions/credits

 

[hclarkjr]

for those wondering when the IRS is going to start processing returns, i recieved this from H&R block today when i efiled my return -

[FONT=&quot]Dear HARRY,

Thanks for e-filing. We've submitted your federal return to the IRS. [/FONT][FONT=&quot]The IRS will process returns starting January 22. We'll send you an e-mail with the status of your return once the IRS processes it.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

 

[pontifex]

I usually use the basic taxact.com filing system but in 2012 I bought a house.

Should I stick with taxact.com or is there a better system for homeowners?

I also work from home so I understand that I can claim some of my household expenses. How exactly do I do that?

 

[alkemyst]

I like turbotax. Home ownership, small business, etc all pretty easy.

 

[EagleKeeper]

I like turbotax. Home ownership, small business, etc all pretty easy.

If one looks at the functionality lists, there is no difference other than supporting documentation.



The Basic is not crippled, it is all a marketing ploy

I usually use the basic taxact.com filing system but in 2012 I bought a house.

Should I stick with taxact.com or is there a better system for homeowners?

I also work from home so I understand that I can claim some of my household expenses. How exactly do I do that?

All s/w will support what you want to do.

For the expenses, follow instruction provided to poster, todpod on previous pages.
Anything that you can use will have been identified.

 

[alkemyst]

i pay to play. Ease of use <> functionality. $20 extra to file taxes quicker...bring it on.

 

[sao123]

I have never had to pay AMt before, but with the changes in code this year, I am slightly concerned...

What type of factors increase your likelyhood of being affected by AMT?

Certain Types of income vs others? Wages vs Interest vs Capital Gains?
Certain threshholds of income? AKA MJ>100K?
Certain Types or levels of Deductions?

Last year our Joint AGI was just over 100K by a few hundred dollars (100% of this is W2 wages and Taxable interest from checking/savings accounts), post deductions and exemptions, we had about 74K in taxable income....However this year, I put in over 15,000 in overtime, and Im wondering what other factors might move us closer to having to pay AMT.

 

[CPA]

I have never had to pay AMt before, but with the changes in code this year, I am slightly concerned...

What type of factors increase your likelyhood of being affected by AMT?

Certain Types of income vs others? Wages vs Interest vs Capital Gains?
Certain threshholds of income? AKA MJ>100K?
Certain Types or levels of Deductions?

Last year our Joint AGI was just over 100K by a few hundred dollars (100% of this is W2 wages and Taxable interest from checking/savings accounts), post deductions and exemptions, we had about 74K in taxable income....However this year, I put in over 15,000 in overtime, and Im wondering what other factors might move us closer to having to pay AMT.

Well, the good news is that with the tax compromise earlier this week, they put in a new patch for AMT. AMT exemption for married couple will be $78,750, so based on your expected income ($115K) I would be surprised if you get hit by it.

But, for sake of your question, trying to boil down impact of AMT is very difficult without actually filling out the form 6251. As simple as I can make it, take your taxable income before exemptions but after standard/itemized deductions (Line 41 on your 1040) and add to that any medical deductions, property/state income/state sales tax deductions, and mortgage interest adjustment (this is calculated on another form) (there are a ton of other additions, but you probably aren't impacted by them) to come up with your AMT income. Then subtract the AMT exemption. Any difference you multiple by 26%. This is your Tentative Minimum Tax. Now, compare this amount to your 1040A calculated tax (line 44). If the Tentative Tax is higher, then you owe the difference as AMT tax. If it's lower, then you owe nothing more.

See how easy that was :awe:

I can tell you that we make more than you, but we will not be impacted by AMT for 2012. So, I would be very surprised if you did, as long as you weren't grossly under-withholding for the year.

 

[sjwaste]

For the pros in this thread, what software do you generally use? I've been using TurboTax Premier because in past years I've bought/sold homes and had some Schedule D gains. From what I'm reading, I really don't need Premier to do any of that. Should I just grab the best deal I see on Deluxe?

The only new things this year would be that we had our first child and I traded some options, so I have a couple more questions if no one minds:

1. For 2012, I put 5k into the DCFSA and used all of it. However, day care cost me a ton more than that, so do I get any tax treatment at all for the excess, such as a deduction? Or do I get the deduction or the 5K FSA and that's it? Is there anything else I might be unaware of as a first time parent that can benefit me on my taxes? We're squarely in the 28% bracket, if that helps.

2. I opened a very small account with OptionsHouse and taught myself the basics. In doing so, I lost a lot more at first than I made back later in the year. Do options trading losses count as capital losses, or is there some other way to deduct those? I probably had a net loss of ~$700 for the year.

Thanks!

 

[CPA]

For the pros in this thread, what software do you generally use? I've been using TurboTax Premier because in past years I've bought/sold homes and had some Schedule D gains. From what I'm reading, I really don't need Premier to do any of that. Should I just grab the best deal I see on Deluxe?

The only new things this year would be that we had our first child and I traded some options, so I have a couple more questions if no one minds:

1. For 2012, I put 5k into the DCFSA and used all of it. However, day care cost me a ton more than that, so do I get any tax treatment at all for the excess, such as a deduction? Or do I get the deduction or the 5K FSA and that's it? Is there anything else I might be unaware of as a first time parent that can benefit me on my taxes? We're squarely in the 28% bracket, if that helps.

2. I opened a very small account with OptionsHouse and taught myself the basics. In doing so, I lost a lot more at first than I made back later in the year. Do options trading losses count as capital losses, or is there some other way to deduct those? I probably had a net loss of ~$700 for the year.

Thanks!

I use TaxAct only because I was one of the original users when it first came out and was absolutely free - even had some discussions with the company's founders about the accuracy of their software - and I like it, so I've stuck with it.

As for your questions:

1) Maybe. If you have more than 1 kid, then you may be able to claim an additional $1K in expenses for calculating the credit ($6K in total expenses are eligible for the credit, $5K of which you've claimed through the FSA). If you only have 1 kid, then you've already met the expense limitation through the FSA ($3K of expenses are the limit for the credit, which you've already claimed through the FSA), so you can't claim anything additional.

2) Yes, capture options losses and gains on Schedule D via Form 8949 in most cases. Short Term loss rules apply, assuming you held less than 1 year.

 

[EagleKeeper]

As stayed earlier, look at the box cover where the companies have comparison of their product line. Unless you need a rare form, you will find out that the bells and whistles are what controls price.

I myself switched from TT to HR because of the spyware fiasco in 2003.

Each to their own. I make sure that the state s/w is included do to supporting family members asking for help from different states.

 

[alkemyst]

I have claimed it yet, but does anyone know if cost of feeding/spay/neuters/vet care and adoption costs for feral cats is deducatable. Some claim it is, some claim it's not. I spend about $600-1000 per month on this cause.

 

[EagleKeeper]

I have claimed it yet, but does anyone know if cost of feeding/spay/neuter/vet care and adoption costs for feral cats is deductible. Some claim it is, some claim it's not. I spend about $600-1000 per month on this cause.

On your own, no. Via a non profit group, yes.
Get receipts from the SPCA or equivalents.
Or start your own non profit for that purpose.

 

[pontifex]

i forget my username and password for taxact so i used the recovery thing and it says it sent me an email with the info but that was over 24 hours ago.

does it take awhile for them to send it? its not in my spam folder or anything like that.

edit: ok weird....apparently i used turbotax last year...i have no idea why i switched. i don't even remember switching.

 

[EagleKeeper]

i forget my username and password for taxact so i used the recovery thing and it says it sent me an email with the info but that was over 24 hours ago.

does it take awhile for them to send it? its not in my spam folder or anything like that.

edit: ok weird....apparently i used turbotax last year...i have no idea why i switched. i don't even remember switching.

Above is one reason why you printout and keep documentation from online support as well as the return itself. User names and passwords.

 

[alkemyst]

On your own, no. Via a non profit group, yes.
Get receipts from the SPCA or equivalents.
Or start your own non profit for that purpose.

The food and supplies are bought under a not for profit's tax exemption ID

Any vet care is usually at my private vet and denoted 'stray' or 'feral' if that helps. My spay neuters are at a humane society

 

[brianmanahan]

if a spouse has to buy their own health insurance since the insurer doesn't offer it, is there any way to deduct their insurance premium if the total cost was less than %7.5 of the combined gross income?

 

[pontifex]

Above is one reason why you printout and keep documentation from online support as well as the return itself. User names and passwords.

i did print it out, thats how i found out i used turbotax instead of taxact last year
i went looking through my hard copies to see if my username or some other info was on it.